


Falling

by kaylie153



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Blind Date, F/M, One Night Stand, Photographer Adrien, Romance, alya trying to get her best friend a boyfriend, fall - Freeform, marinette isn’t good at relationships, nino mentioned in passing, overworked marientte, workaholic marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 21:03:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20552663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaylie153/pseuds/kaylie153
Summary: Marinette doesn’t know how to stop working and put her personal life first. So her best friend decides to take matters into her own hands.





	Falling

The weather was just starting to dip into the cooler temperatures, and yet Marinette had already begun wearing a scarf and coat. She had always loved fall, especially because it meant she got to wear more layers, which meant more clothing to show off. It was only September but she was already dreaming of the brown leaves scattered through the city. She even daydreamt a bit of the first snowfall. Maybe by then, she would have a hand to hold, or a body to snuggle into during the night. It wasn't very likely with her track record, but she could try.

For all of her 25 years, Marinette had never made a relationship last more than two months. It wasn't for lack of trying. More than a few had felt like solid choices. But sooner rather than later, they would become distant, back off, and then be gone. And Marinette was left to wonder if she had done something wrong. Her friends assured her that it wasn't her, she was perfect, beautiful, the men were the ones running scared. Though she had to question, scared of what?

She wasn't even looking for a husband. Every partner had known that. It's not like she wasn't the marrying type, but Marinette recognized what was more important at the moment, and that was her career. It wasn't her fault that she worked long hours, or that she was hard to get ahold of, or that sometimes she didn't let herself have weekends…

“Oh.”

Marinette clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized she slipped that out aloud. Her best friend looked over her oddly, an eyebrow raised at the way her cheeks filled with blood.

“What? What's wrong?”

She met Alya’s eyes, the epiphany she had washing over her more thoroughly as each second ticked past.

“ _ I’m _ the problem.”

Alya seemed confused, shaking her head and setting down her mug.

They had met at their favorite coffee shop. Alya still wore jeans and a light blouse, while Marinette had taken it upon herself to dress up in a pencil skirt, tights, and heeled boots, a big peacoat thrown over the back of her chair. 

“You’re gonna have to give me more to go on.”

Marinette sighed, a hand carding through her hair. It had been a month since she cut her locks rather short, but it had already grown into a shaggy bob. “I work too much, Alya. I put my career before anything else. Besides you guys and my parents, I don't give anyone else time. That's why they all leave me.”

Alya caught up quickly, switching her position from a curious onlooker into best friend mode, reaching her hand out to Marinette’s across the table. “Honey, it's okay. You have priorities, that's all. If someone can’t understand that, then it's their loss.”

Feeling her eyes widen, Marinette turned toward her. “You’ve known this whole time, haven't you? You knew from the beginning why every guy has ended things.” Alya gave a passive shrug, squeezing her friend’s hand harder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because,” Alya sighed, finally releasing the now limp hand, “you had more important things to deal with than a love life. You were building a brand and a career.”

Marinette shook her head, awed at her friend's indifference to this crushing blow in their friendship. “But I thought this whole time they were leaving because I wasn't  _ enough _ . I could deal with them not being able to handle my lack of attention, but I thought that I genuinely wasn't good enough for any of them.”

“And we told you every time that you're perfect the way you are. Maybe you should've listened to us, hm?”

She was still trying to process all the new information. All of her friends had known that men left her because she worked too much. Her parents probably knew as well. Years of frustrations and self-loathing could've been alleviated had someone bothered to tell her.

“Do you think you want to try slowing down?”

Alya’s voice was a shock to her system.

“What do you mean?”

“I have a really great guy in mind that I met through work. He's totally your type too, real handsome, put together.”

There were no reasons that came to her mind about why she should say no, so instead she found herself nodding, agreeing to her first blind date in years. And possibly her first relationship in almost one. Alya jumped around in her seat in excitement, exclaiming she’d been waiting for this time to come when Marinette would finally agree to start seeing someone seriously. Not that she hadn't been seeing anyone before non-seriously, just not enough to let herself relax about work.

Alya set everything up and sent her the details right then. All she could do was nod along, promise to be good, and let him know right away if she was feeling it. This was not the kind of guy to drag around for two months, only to let work once again become the priority. And Marinette agreed, because what else she could do? 

Their date was set for saturday afternoon, a casual lunch date, nothing too overbearing or scary. They’d eat soup and sandwiches, and maybe get a drink after if they were really feeling a connection.

But the night before, Marinette could feel her nerves setting in. It had been too long since she’d been on a date, and if Alya was to be believed, the man was rather good-looking. It had also been far too long since she'd been relaxed in other ways. She decided to go out to shake those nerves, prove she could hold her own in front of men, that she wouldn't flounder as soon as he so much as shook her hand. She was a touched-starved woman, but not embarrassingly so. She hoped anyway.

A couple of girls from work invited her along to their usual friday night club crawl and were actually surprised when she agreed for once. They convinced her to dress down a bit with samples they had lying around, and hit dinner before finding their way to the first club.

By almost 1 AM, they’d stopped by five clubs and were feeling pretty good. Marinette had stripped her coat off when the heat had got to her, giving everyone a nice view of her freckled shoulders in the slim fit, sleeveless dress she wore. 

She was the one sent to the bar at this club, chit-chatting with the bartender while she made the drinks. When the bartender walked away for a moment, the man next to Marinette turned toward her, his mouth slanted in a drunken smirk, and she tried to avoid his gaze. There was alcohol pulsing through her system, but she definitely wasn’t gone enough to give this man what he wanted. He wasn't bad-looking, but his tie and shirt were askew, and a wedding ring sat prominently on his hand.

“Hey,” he drawled, his eyes catching on the hem of her dress that had risen up thanks to barstool she was perched on.

Her eyes went wide as she attempted to find the bartender again, but she seemed to be distracted by a customer near the end of the bar.

“Hey,” he slurred again, a hand coming to rest on her exposed thigh. “I’m talking to you, don’t be rude.”

Marinette’s mouth fell open, words escaping her in shock. 

Before she could attempt to get away from this man, another hand appeared near her thigh, wrapping around the man’s wrist. It must've been a strong grip because the man gasped, yanking his arm back to cradle against his chest. “What the hell man?”

The figure next to Marinette shifted into view, eyes looking dark and focused. “I could say the same to you. Can’t you tell she's uncomfortable?”

The man huffed, standing up and grabbing his glass from the bartop. “Whatever,” he mumbled, shakily stumbling into the crowd.

Their bartender chose that moment to set the three drinks in front of Marinette, a small smile on her mouth. “Here ya go, hon.”

Marinette stared at the drinks, her mind trying to catch up with everything that happened in the span of two minutes. She tried to gather the glasses in her hands but she was shaking.

“Do you need help?”

She finally looked at the man who had saved her and froze. He was  _ very  _ cute. His eyes watched her curiously, searching for something, and they were an impossible shade of green, ringed by dark blonde eyelashes. The blonde hair on the top of his head was messy, cropped in an undercut that distracted her unnervingly. His jaw was sharp and craving a kiss. Marinette shook her head, a thought tickling in the back of her mind.

“Um, sure,” she muttered, handing him her own drink, gathering the other two. As they walked to her table, Marinette made sure to thank him for helping her out of that situation.

“It’s no problem. I saw you looking for an out, so I thought I'd jump in there.”

When they reached her table, her co-workers looked over the two of them in interest. The guy went to set her drink down, but Marinette shook her head. 

“Take a drink.”

“What?” He looked at her, his brows raised in confusion. 

“You were walking behind me, you could've done anything. So take a drink.”

He gave a slow smirk, but shrugged, raising the glass to his lips. She watched him take a sizable gulp and licked her lips when his adam's apple bobbed.

“Good?” he laughed, his voice sounding husky.

Marinette nodded, smiling herself for the first time in what felt like an hour.

She invited him to join them and bought him a drink when a waitress passed by. Before long, her co-workers had headed out, and she was left alone with him, laughing and talking. He invited her to dance and she went with him, allowing him to drag her along by her hand. He held her closely as they danced, a hand pressed into the small of her back, his hips moving against hers. They weren’t drunk, but she felt dizzy dancing with him. The way he gripped her had her grinning at him, and when she bit her lip, they both felt the way he reacted.

She remembers them leaving, her coat thrown around her shoulders, her eyes trained to the back of his head as he hailed a cab. He told the driver they'd make two stops and looked toward her for an address. 

Marinette shook her head. “One stop. Wherever he's going.”

Fascinated, she once again watched him gulp, then nod.

He didn't live very far away from the club, a newer condo building close to her office. When they got inside, she shed her coat and her shoes, watching him steadily as he began to study her once more. She moved toward him, a hand running up his torso, fingers catching on his buttons. Her hand snaked around his neck and tugged him forward.

Before she could kiss him, he leaned back.

“I do want to continue, but I have one condition.”

Feeling nervous, Marinette sat back on her heels. “Yes?”

His mouth quirked up at her voice. “What's your name?”

A laugh bubbled from her throat, and his eyes lit up at the sound. “Marinette,” she sighed, her other hand winding around the back of his neck.

He grinned at her name. “I’m Adrien,” he spoke quickly, grabbing her around the waist and dragging her toward him roughly, his mouth slamming down on hers.

The thought of recognition still teased at the back of her head, but his kisses and his hands kept it buried for the moment. 

She got to kiss along his jaw and his collarbones, and his mouth found purchase on her shoulders. The sheets on his bed were cool against their skin, and when she awoke in the morning, they still felt comfortable. Adrien was not beside her, but she could hear the shower running through the cracked door that probably lead to the bathroom.

For the first time, she was able to see the room she'd spent an almost sleepless night in. The room was nice, and the windows gave a stunning view of Paris. 

Marinette heard the shower turn off and sat up straighter in the bed. He came out wrapped in a towel, his hair shining in the light let through the windows. The recognition that had been bothering her finally snapped into place.

“Oh! You used to be a model.”

Adrien froze, his eyes taking her in where she sat on the bed, her chest exposed to the morning light. He dragged his eyes to her own, a smirk on his mouth. “Yes, I used to be. Stopped before I went to college.”

Marinette nodded excitedly. “Yes, yes! I used to collect your magazine spreads when I was in school.” Her face went red when she realized what she had said, but his smirk spread into a full, gorgeous grin.

“You did? What was your favorite?”

“The perfume ad.”

He nodded, remembering the shoot. “That was a fun ad.”

“What are you doing now?” She couldn't help the curiosity. She had slept with the man after all, and all she really knew was his name, his address, and that he liked when she said his name as she came. Her face went redder at the memory, tugging the sheet up to cover her breasts. 

He noticed this and bent to grab the edge of the sheet. “I do photography now. Travel all over the world, stuff like that.”

Marinette nodded enthusiastically, her mind running with the imaginings of him snapping photos of various sights. The thought was ripped from her head when Adrien tugged the sheet off of her, a gasp escaping her. He was smirking at her again, a knee pressed into the bed as he looked her over.

His towel was gone and she was pinned beneath him, a giggle in the air as he left a trail of wet kisses along her neck and shoulders. Her hands were trapped between their bodies, trying to get ahold of him.

They were both shocked when a notification went off on her phone, which was in the living room buried in her coat. They looked at each other, and he could see she was going to ditch her phone in favor of staying in the bed with him. His lips came down gently on hers. The kiss was steady, and the noise that found its way out of her throat was a sigh instead of a moan.

“Fuck!” 

Adrien sprung away from her, his face contorted at the sudden curse. 

She looked absolutely angry, a hand pushing its way through her hair roughly. “Do you know what time it is?”

He shook his head but turned to the alarm clock on his side of the bed. “Oh, it’s almost 11.”

“Dammit,” she breathed, sitting up with a groan. Her hand came to his shoulder, bringing him in for a kiss. “I’m sorry but I have plans that I can't miss.”

Adrien found himself nodding, but he wasn't exactly happy. “Yeah, I have an appointment later too.”

Marinette gave him a small smile before pulling her dress on and turning for him to zip it. She pressed one more kiss to his mouth, then disappeared into the hallway. Before making her escape with her coat and heels, she quickly scrawled her number on a notepad by the door.

She wanted to curse Alya for setting up this blind date. However, if Alya hadn’t, then she wouldn't have gone out the night before.

Alya reminded her one last time that the man would be wearing a blue scarf and waiting outside of the restaurant. When Marinette pointed out that there was likely to be many blue scarves, Alya said it was one of her own designs that Nino had got him for Christmas the year before.

She was only a few minutes late, hurriedly smoothing down the skirt of the dress she'd put on. The front of the restaurant was crowded, the air a slight tinge colder than the day before. Near the doors, she caught sight of the blue scarf her company had made. When she finally got a look at the man wearing it, she froze in her steps, her eyes unbelieving. He found her at nearly the same time, the red scarf she wore being the calling card Nino had told him to look out for.

They both smiled like idiots, starting toward each other.

“This is the best coincidence ever,” Adrien breathed, his teeth gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Marinette grinned up at him, a hand coming to play in the hair he'd let dry wavy. “I think this might be the best blind date I’ve ever been set up on.”

Adrien leaned down to capture her lips in the kiss they didn't get to finish that morning.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I know it’s messy, it came from inspiration while I was working haha  
You can find me on tumblr @marichatandme


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